Musical Eras
Terminology
Composers
Forms and Compositions
Potpourri
100

The texture of Classical era music is mostly homophonic, whereas Baroque music predominantly utilizes this type of texture.

Polyphonic

100

In reference to meter, duple means divisible by this number.

Two

100

He continued composing after losing his hearing.

Beethoven

100

The Classical symphony typically has this many movements.

Four

100

Everybody knows that he practically invented the string quartet.

Haydn

200

Up until the Classical era, most ordinary citizens heard music here.

Church
200

Not to be confused with pitch, this word means the "quality of a sound that distinguishes one instrument or voice from another."

Timbre

200

Though not as famous as Handel during his lifetime, many consider him to be the greatest composer of the Baroque era and perhaps of all time.

Bach

200

Played by a melodic bass instrument and keyboard, this baroque convention faded from musical compositions in the Classical era.

Basso Continuo

200

Beethoven's famous 5th Symphony comes from this period of his compositional output.

Middle or "Heroic"

300

The early period of this musical era was one of the most revolutionary in music history.

Baroque

300

These are the three types of musical texture.

Monophony, Homophony, Polyphony

300

For a time, Beethoven studied under this distinguished composer.

Haydn

300

The three sections of sonata form have these names.

Exposition, Development, Recapitulation

300

Many of the cadenzas to Mozart's piano concertos still in use today were composed by this guy, a fellow composer from a younger generation.

Beethoven

400

The growing middle-class had a great influence on this musical era.

Classical

400

The text of an opera is known as this.

Libretto

400

A devout Catholic, this Renaissance composer from Italy was known for his elegant and serene vocal polyphony.

Palestrina

400

A minuet or scherzo often appears in this movement of a symphony.

Third

400

This operatic device imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech and is sparsely accompanied.

Recitative

500

Florence, Italy was the capital of musical activity in the Renaissance; this city was the center of musical life in the Classical era.

Vienna, Austria

500

A trio sonata involves this many instruments.

Four

500

These two guys were the first to write organum, the addition of a second part to Gregorian chant.

Léonin and Pérotin

500
A fugue always starts with this, the main melodic idea upon which the entire composition is based.

Subject

500

Beatriz, Countess of Dia, was a composer-poet of secular songs, AKA this.

Trobairitz

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